“I’m going to be the assistant for Donovan Mills, from—”
“No way!”
Kayla raised her brow at Caitlin and tried to keep it cool. She didn’t want to encounter another woman drooling over her new boss, as it was obvious that he was so full of himself.
Caitlin burst out laughing when she noticed Kayla’s frosty response.
“I know what you’re thinking. No, I haven’t slept with him. Ugh, stop putting that thought into my head. I would like to enjoy my chow mein in a minute, thank you very much.”
Kayla couldn’t help but laugh. It felt good talking with Caitlin about someone they both knew, as it hadn’t happened to them before. Until now, they had only touched shallow topics in their conversations. Kayla knew that talking about her new boss could deepen their friendship.
“I’ve known the Mills family since forever. We moved next door to them when I was fifteen and Donovan was fourteen. I work with his younger brother Declan. He’s my partner on the force.”
Kayla gulped her wine for liquid courage and asked, “Okay, so you know all about Duncan as well?”
Caitlin stopped forking chow mein onto her plate, glanced over her shoulder with her piercing light blue eyes, and smirked. “Ha, you’ve met Duncan, eh?”
Kayla’s cheeks heated, and she shifted on the couch to place her glass on the coffee table. She tried to answer as indifferently as possible, saying, “Yeah, he was there during the interview.”
“He was present during your job interview? What for? He doesn’t even work at Mills Security.”
“I don’t know, maybe they wanted to—” Kayla started to think of an explanation but was interrupted by Caitlin.
“I can imagine those two bickering over you, Kayla. It must have been quite the show when you turned them down,” Caitlin said while wolfing down her meal. When Kayla didn’t respond, Caitlin’s eyes went wide.
“Oh, sorry. My bad. I just figured that...,” Caitlin sputtered.
Kayla took a plate and placed a lukewarm spring roll from one of the containers on it. She shook her head and said, “I know. They scream player just by looking at them. Donovan is definitely not my type, but—”
“But Duncan is?” Caitlin observed Kayla over the rim of her wineglass and waited for her confirmation.
“I guess so.... I don’t know. I don’t know the guy. He seemed arrogant and cocky, and don’t forget bossy.”
“But also sexy as hell?” Caitlin chuckled.
“Well... yes. You can say that.” Kayla peered through her lashes and tried to gauge Caitlin’s reaction.
“I get it. I really do. Can you believe that there are five Mills brothers? My friends find them all smoking hot, and growing up next to them brought a lot of girls who wanted to befriend me just to get close to them. It gets old real quick, you know? I guess that, to me, they just feel like they’re my brothers. Very loud and annoying brothers, ha.”
Kayla grinned before taking a huge bite out of her spring roll. Thank goodness Caitlin wasn’t into Duncan. What if they’d both liked him? Caitlin was the first friend she found in Austin, in her new life. She was happy that he wouldn’t stand in between them. But maybe he wasn’t even into her. He was so casual as he said goodbye to her today. Perhaps he wasn’t even single?
The grin fell from her face as she took a swig from her glass. After she swallowed, she asked, “Is Duncan single?”
“Duncan is single, yeah. All of the Mills brothers are single. My sister Fianna even dated Ronan, their brother, for a short period. My guess is that Brennan, the oldest, and Declan, my partner, are the most serious out of the bunch. The other three are definitely players. But I must say, they are upfront about it.
“Donovan once had some fun with a colleague of mine, and she knew the deal. He explicitly told her that he wasn’t looking for a girlfriend. I guess she was okay with that. She’s happily married now, but every now and then, she still asks about him. I guess he made quite the impression.”
“And Duncan?”
“Well, Duncan was a real good MMA fighter, if not the best. He never lacked attention from the ladies, so to speak. He had some girlfriends growing up, but nothing too serious. He’s a real great guy. All of them are. But as your friend, I have to be honest, and I guess that Duncan hasn’t been exactly boyfriend material. But you know, things can change.... Perhaps you’ll be his game changer.”
“Ha, I don’t know about that.”
“Why not? Don’t sell yourself short, Kayla. You’re a BB-BB.”
“A beebee?”
“It’s something my sister Bree came up with when we were kids, ha ha. A Big-Breasted Beauty with Brains.”